Don Bradman – The Last Innings
The stage was set at Oval, on Aug 14, 1948. The ground was packed, after all it was the last Test match of Sir Donald George Bradman. Bradman got a huge reception when he reached the middle in front of a crowd of 20,000 spectators. English players took off the caps and gave him three cheers. They were courteous but determined to go hard for the priced wickets. England captain Norman Yardley told “We’ll give him three cheers when he gets on the square, but that’s all we’ll give him. Then bowl him out.”
Embed from Getty ImagesLast Ball:
England’s leggy Eric Hollies had a plan for Bradman. Holies wanted to bowl the wrong one to Bradman. He didn’t bowl it before and saved for the Oval Test match. He told “I know I can bowl him with it, and I’ll give it to him second ball at the Oval,” Maybe it’s due to emotional reception or due to moist eyes, Bradman failed to pick the googly. Scoreboard said, ‘Bradman bowled Hollies… naught’.
Average 99.94:
Bradman needed 4 runs in his last innings to finish with a batting average of 100 but ended with 99.94. There were no statisticians or television back in the days, and no one knew about it.
Embed from Getty ImagesNeil Harvey felt responsible:
The game prior to the Oval Test match, Neil Harvey scored a boundary to win the Test match for Australia on the only ball he faced. Bradman was at non-striker end. He said later, “That four at Leeds makes me feel very guilty. It’s entirely my fault Bradman didn’t average 100 in Test cricket. If he would’ve scored those four runs instead of me, he’d have got there”.